Internship: International Institute for Social Studies in The Hague / The Netherlands

Internship project assistant Office of Research Projects and Advisory Services (ORPAS)
What is the International Institute for Social Studies?

The International Institute for Social Studies (ISS) is an international graduate school of policy-oriented critical social science in The Hague and forms part of Erasmus University Rotterdam. It brings together students and teachers from the Global South and the North in a European environment. It does research, teaching and public service in the field of development studies and international cooperation. Research at ISS seeks to understand phenomena of underdevelopment, development and change, with special reference to low-income countries. Poverty, globalisation, gender and inequity are key words in most of our publications. Our MA and PhD students come from over 50 countries and our more than 15.000 alumni figure at all levels of government, business and civil society in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Our staff comes from many countries as well. We stimulate public debate on current issues, important for the exchange of knowledge and for increasing public awareness. ISS organises a wide variety of events, from large conferences to small roundtable meetings for selected groups.
 

What do we do?

The Office of Research, Projects and Advisory Services is charged with policy preparation for the institute and initiation of and support to externally-financed research, institutional capacity development, and advisory services. In addition we work as managing editor and book reviews editor for a leading journal in development research, called Development and Change. We work within a team of a head of office, three project officers, a data-analyst and two secretaries. We are in day to day contact with academic staff, ISS management, donors, potential cooperation partners and external policy makers in the field of international higher education.
 

What will you do?

As an intern you will take part in the support of day to day activities, which can include assisting with writing funding proposals, memo’s and reports, answering to queries, documentation research, compiling documents and files, taking part in meetings, minute taking, preparing communications, organisation of activities, and occasionally accompanying our project officers to stakeholder visits. ISS offers an excellent environment to attend conferences, seminars and workshops on development studies and we will encourage you to do so. Part of your internship can be spent on the writing of a paper or assignment in the framework of your studies. We particularly welcome topics or assignments that have a relation to the work of ISS, or our office in particular.
 

What do we expect from you?

You are a student on at least a Bachelor or Master university level in a relevant field (non-students are not eligible for this internship). You are interested in at least one of the following areas: public administration, international development, international/EU relations, communications, law or finance. The Internship duration is a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 12 months. For periods longer than 3 months only EU-nationals can apply. Although most of our team members speak Dutch, we do expect a good level of English, in speech as well as in writing. We also expect a positive and proactive attitude, a strong willingness to learn, an interest to interact in a multi-cultural environment, a capability to perform assigned tasks independently and accurately, and a motivation to work hard when needed and a social spirit when required.
 

What can we offer you?

An internship at our office gives you the opportunity to improve your service orientation, writing, organisational, administrative skills. You can also learn how to organise and priorities your work and improve your computer skills. Although you will work under supervision of a mentor, you will take part in all activities of the team. We offer a small stipend which will not be sufficient to cover your living costs in The Netherlands.
 

How to apply?

There is no application deadline as we seek interns on a rolling basis. If you would like to apply, we look forward to receive your CV, a letter of recommendation from your professor, a proof of registration at your university that covers the period of your internship. And a cover letter in which you argue why you are interested in ISS as an institute, and the work of our office in particular, what you would like to learn, what specific skills you will bring to our team and in which period you are available. If you need to write a paper or assignment for your studies, please add a (draft) proposal. You can send this information to ISS Human Resources: personnel@iss.nl. Please mention: “internship project assistant ORPAS” in your e-mail heading.